1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to firearm systems that include rail connectors for mounting various types of tactical accessories. More particularly, the invention concerns a firearm system that includes an electrically powered rail connector to which modified tactical accessories can be removable interconnected
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In recent years, a wide variety of mounts for military and civilian weapons have been developed which permit the mounting of various types of tactical accessories, such as telescopic sights, tactical lights, night vision devices, laser sighting modules, reflex sights and the like. A very popular rail connector is the so called Picatinny rail, which is typically affixed to the barrel or stock of the firearm for mounting accessories thereon.
The Picatinny rail comprises a series of ridges with a T-shaped cross-section interspersed with flat spacing slots. Tactical accessories are generally mounted on the rail either by sliding them on from one end or the other by means of a so called “rail-grabber” which is clamped to the rail with bolts, by thumbscrews or levers, or onto the slots between the raised sections.
In order to provide a stable platform, the Picatinny rail is provided with the spacing slots that give the rail considerable room to expand and contract lengthwise without distorting its shape. The Picatinny locking slot width is 0.206 in (5.232 mm). The spacing of slot centers is 0.394 in (10.008 mm) and the slot depth is 0.118 in (2.997 mm).
A somewhat similar prior art mounting rail is the Weaver rail. The only differences between the Picatinny rail and the Weaver rail are the size of these slots and the fact that they are standardized. Weaver rails have a slot width of 0.180 in (4.572 mm), but are not necessarily consistent in the spacing of slot centers. Because of this, accessories can be and are designed to fit on both Weaver rails and Picatinny rails.
Several major handgun manufacturers, such as Springfield Armory, Glock, SIG and many others, have made handguns with a Picatinny mounting rail formed on the pistol frame. The mounting rail has been used for mounting white lights, infrared and laser illuminating devices and telescopic sights. A typical mounting rail design is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,486, issued to Bilgeri et al. Bilgeri et al. discloses a longitudinal mounting rail for a telescopic sight for use on a hand-held firearm, comprising a casing which accommodates breech parts, a stock which is attached to the casing, and a barrel which is detachably connected to the casing. In order to avoid the disadvantages of the conventional telescopic sight fitting and to allow the entire weapon to have a neat and practical shape, the casing forms a casing extension at the front beyond the connection to the barrel and a longitudinal rail is integrally formed at the top on the casing and on the casing extension as a mounting for the telescopic sight. The casing parts are made of light metal alloy. The longitudinal rail has a dovetail profile on which two clamps are guided that hold the telescopic sight. The Bilgeri et al. longitudinal rail has grooves in the transverse direction at specific intervals. These grooves offer space for clamping screws that fix the clamp. This allows the optical axis of the telescopic sight to be positioned very close to the barrel axis.
Many of the prior art tactical accessories, such as tactical lights, night vision devices, laser sighting modules and the like, typically embody small dry cell batteries that provide a source of electrical power to the device. These dry cell batteries are, by necessity, small and have limited capacity and life. This is highly undesirable when the accessories are used in the field under combat conditions because if the battery fails, the accessory becomes useless unless and until the battery is replaced. It is this drawback that the present invention seeks to overcome by providing a novel mounting rail that includes remotely powered electrical connectors to which modified prior art tactical accessories can be readily interconnected. In the preferred form of the invention, the electrical connectors of the mounting rail are interconnected with a relatively large, long life battery that is mounted in a stock of the firearm. With this construction, modified tactical accessories, which include suitable interconnection means to allow the accessory to be interconnected with the electrical connectors of the mounting rail, can be used in the field without fear of short-term battery failure.